Life, Libraries, Archives, Thoughts, Books, Whatever…

Funny Encounters

I don’t know if I have ever mentioned this before on my blog, but if you follow me on Instagram you would know that my latest obsession involves thumbing through periodicals from the late 60’s to mid-70’s and finding ads or news stories that stand out to me. Sometimes I take pictures and post them, sometimes I don’t, but mainly I do it because I find advertising so psychologically interesting. People who make ads literally get paid to get inside your head and make you want to buy things? How? Well, mainly sex, but there’s also hints of power, wealth, beauty, and excitement that are used to persuade. Most of the ads I find are for booze and cigarettes, which I find even more interesting as this kind of advertising I feel is much less prominent these days as we realized the health dangers associated with them.

Advertisements from popular magazines of this time period offer a peek into what America’s deepest desires were 50 years ago. Most of them seem similar to today, although I’m glad that in the last few decades we have moved a lot more towards equality and open mindedness. I’m not here to scrutinize these ads, or be mad about them and write scathing angry posts about the content. So if you get mad or fired up about the ad I am about to share, just know I am sharing this as an observer of today, 2017, who is indeed a strong independent female who does not condone sexism, racism, or any other kind of hate. When I see things like this, I try to see them from the perspective of knowing that even though we have a long way to go still, we have indeed come pretty far. You can’t change the past, but you can move forward from it and grow and that kind of progress can be inspiring.

Today I was thumbing through Newsweek, October 9, 1967. Now, at first I thought this was an article, but the look on the guys face is what really drew me in and made me want to read it. As I started reading, I realized that this is kind of a hybrid between and ad and a PSA from the Cigar Institute of America, which from a quick google either doesn’t exist anymore or has changed its name to “The Cigar Association of America” which is entirely possible. I also found that somebody on eBay is selling this exact ad that I am going to share with you for $4.99. I wonder if anybody will ever buy it, god I hope not.

I don’t know if you can read the wording… So I will transcribe the ad here:

The facts of life for new cigar smokers

Finding the cigar meant for you is no different than finding the girl meant for you. It pays to shop around a little before you settle down.

After all, there are 15 million cigar smokers in this country. Do you think all of them hit it off with the first cigar they tried?

Cigars, like women, come in all shapes, sizes, and blends.

Try a slim cigar for a while. Then try a more curvaceous one. You and the cigar should look good together.

Then try different priced cigars. As with love, money won’t necessarily buy happiness. A truly satisfying cigar doesn’t have to be a costly cigar.

Go forth then, play the field.

The cigar you carry close to your heart is right around the corner.

A boon companion that will make the small search more than worthwhile.

A smoke that will comfort you when you’re feeling low, relax you when you are tense.

Cigars never argue with you. Never lose their shape. Do not pack up and go home to mother. And are not economically ruinous.

Of course, finding the right cigar isn’t quite as rewarding as finding the right woman.

But then again, what is?

(Cigar Institute of America, 1967)

Oh man. So many things wrong with that, first of all a curvaceous cigar? Is that even a thing? I suppose there are some positive aspects here if you dig for them. First of all women ARE NOT, repeat, NOT like cigars. Women are not rolled up tobacco that you smoke as a symbol of your manhood or riches, or to calm your nerves, or whatever. Anytime you compare a person to an object it immediately De-humanizes it, so there’s that. But, then it reminds you that money isn’t everything when it comes to love, OK that’s fine. THEN, wait what? A cigar will never lose its shape or run home to mother OR wait for it…. Be economically ruinous? Jesus, really? Yeah and a cigar will never be your intellectual, emotional, or sexual companion or teammate so there’s that. A cigar will never better you as a person or global citizen by adding a sense of emotional intimacy, connection, and love to your life. Have you tried talking with a cigar? They are rather boring and uneducated, and their taste in music sucks. I suppose you could stick one up your … and derive some pleasure from that. You can be a lonely sad weirdo with rectal cancer from years of shoving cigars in places you shouldn’t, but hey you will still have your MONEY. Finally, the ad closes with saying: but hey, women aren’t cigars, and finding a great one is really the best reward there is. But wait, even that is slightly backhanded isn’t it? Sigh, just another ad sitting away in an old magazine on a quiet and dusty fourth floor periodical shelf, but something to think about on this slow Sunday.

There are times when I feel a bit lost, or bored, or just lacking some sort of hope or direction.

When this happens, I often like to play this game with library patrons (I use them because they are the most random and know the least about me personally), but the same can be done with anybody really in your everyday life. Ask for a message, some encouragement, some direction, and wait for it.

I often find these “messages” in situations that entail something that I normally wouldn’t do or in a place where I go out of my way to be especially kind to somebody. I have 3 such occasions this week after thinking over the weekend that I needed some sort of “shove” in a direction or a reminder of something

One: An older man comes into the public often and gets study rooms. I am usually salty with him a bit because he is annoying and weird. But, Monday I moved his room around for him, changed his name on the paper because he said it was spelled wrong, and talked with him about his ex-wife a bit. When our conversation ended he looked at me and said, “You’ve been such a good girl, this is for you.” –yes I know that sounds a bit creepy and I didn’t agree with being addressed as if I was a dog, but the oddness of the remark made me realize this was my first thing to pay attention to- He reaches in his bag and pulls out a fortune cookie from panda express. I waited until later and opened it in tech where I didn’t eat the cookie but found this fortune:

I’m not crazy and I know that fortune cookies are so generic in nature and only say about 5 things, but seeing this just reminded me that I am on the right path. Today is not forever, and things will change for me, as much as there is frustration today, life is a turning wheel, and tomorrow can be success and happiness. Keep at it me, keep at it.

Two: Yesterday at the U a lady who often comes in approached me and told me that her headphones weren’t working. I went over to the computer, messed with the volume and tried a different computer. Turns out her headphones were shot, and I told her I could check her out a pair with her ID. She then told me that she’s not a student so I let her know I couldn’t do that without an ID. I could have just been like, sorry, but I felt like helping her so I went to the lost and found, got a clean looking pair of cheapie ear buds, cleaned them off for her, and told her that she could borrow them for the time being. She was so grateful and looked at me and said: “You know it’s all about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right people.” I smiled and walked away, but the message stuck with me.

Sometimes it is just that random. Some act of magic that can happen when these things line up and you can’t really force it, just try to notice when it does and capitalize on the possibilities that con come of it. Most magic moments, I think, are accidental in nature, and come from mixing the right amount of place, time and people.

Three: A month or so ago I had one of those seemingly random interactions when a person sits with me for a long while and talks with me about life’s purpose and our passions, and all that fun stuff. This particular person was somebody applying to be a professor here, and she had just uprooted her life to do so based upon some signs she had received. When we first met she was just checking out the University while trying to make the move up here from San Diego. She was inspiring, and intelligent, and just all around great to talk to. We ended on a hug and kept loosely in touch with emails. When I got into work yesterday she had stopped by and left me a nice note with her phone number:

I did smile, and I called her, and we have plans to go on a walk next week. I’m going to be all ears to what she has to tell me, because it’s what I asked for, after all.

I came into work and the circulation supervisor tells me he has something to show me (this is always good). Earlier in the week an unknown person delivered a book to the library saying that it was from a certain higher up in the University and they requested us to put it in the collection on their behalf. I guess this is complicated, nobody knew who this person was, and what, if any, connection they had to the University. Based on the actual premise of the book, it seems more likely that it was just a random person off the street, but I guess that is to be determined.

At first glance the book is thin, and has a pretty basic cover. It’s called Uncommon Sense by Seth B. Moorhead. Let’s get a background from the blurb on the back. Moorhead is a retired Aeronautical Engineer with an MBA. He worked mainly for the government on military project for the Navy. This book is a manuscript of “17 concise, researched, and well thought out essays which offer thought-provoking solutions to problems” (Moorhead, 2016).

The essays are broken up into categories, Science, Government, Finances, Faith and Life. These essays are super short, about 3 pages each and straight to the point.

He has some out there opinions: He talks about the fact that many US cities are located next to big bodies of water so amphibious cars or hovercrafts may be a solution to our congested freeways. He also doesn’t believe in global warming, but that the volcanic activity is solely responsible for all of the surface level climate changes. There’s other kinds of theories about gravity, but I won’t even get into those here.

He has some opinions that a little more down to earth: He believes that we should have more requirements for the office of president like a certain amount of previous experience in the executive branch of government ,and also that congress could not make laws that invade personal liberties such as what people eat or drink or who they marry. He talks about ICBM attacks and some strategies to try to stop them. He then talks about school shooters and how they are male loners who have psychiatric problems and are not loved enough, which is, in a strange way kind of insightful.

I do have a big time problem with this reference page though, it’s about 85% Wikipedia, I wouldn’t call that well researched, and it doesn’t hold weight here in academia. Here’s page one of that:

The last part is about life, and this is where is gets the most random. He believes that football helmets are ineffective, and should be redesigned to remove the hard parts and turn them into soft leather like pillow material that will absorb a hit like a boxing glove would. He also has decided that he will always, from now on, buy new cars, despite the economic advantages of buying used.

I guess what I can say at the end of reading this short little collection is that I thought everything in here would just be crackpot theories or religious ramblings. But, it feels more like talking to a dear old grandfather that you haven’t seen in years at the Thanksgiving table. Sometimes you are like OH my god please stop talking about this it’s weird, and other times you are like WOW, even though you aren’t really backing up your theories with facts they seem well thought out and you have some life experience and so much time on your hands to think about them that they could actually be right in some ways.

I guess there is no right or wrong when you are dealing with opinions, and that’s life. At the end he even offers up for you to write him if you have other solutions or counter arguments. In a way it’s just kind of the equivalent of his own little blog, all published in pamphlet form. Who knows, maybe we will be seeing these new soft helmets in the NFL soon, don’t say I didn’t tell you about it first.

Being a weekend lady here at the U I miss most of the action of the week. Sure, there’s still students here on the weekends, but it’s busiest Monday Through Wednesday, tapers off Thursday, Friday is dead, Saturday is hit or miss being either super slow or super busy, and we pick back up Sunday for all those trying to get their homework ready for the week. I usually come in Thursday morning, make my rounds and ask people what I missed.

This morning I was in for a treat. The daytime circulation supervisor had a story for me. He was sitting at his desk, which is behind windows and a sliding door that is usually open, meaning that it’s pretty out of the way and most people don’t go back there unless they are an employee or affiliated with the library in some way. He’s sitting at his desk, when a student approaches him and introduces himself. Then, the student who looks like he may or may not belong to a fraternity hands him a flyer for a party. I guess you may be wondering, well what the hell is so funny about this? 1) If you knew library people you would know that we probably don’t look like we want to party, especially when we are like 10 years older than the students so the fact that he purposely singled out my co-worker and went out of his way to give him this flyer is just weird 2) You have to wait until you hear the hype written on the front of the flyer, It’s so good that I couldn’t make it up if I wanted to.

Here is the flyer itself, it appears to be a concert show:

The first band is named Victor Hugo (library points for that one ONLY). Right below the info is this blurb, I will write it here exactly as it is on the flyer:

Your gonna party so hard

your dancing and your mind

will explode on fire you’l try to call

200 firefighters to extinguish the flames

but no can will be able to

extinguish the heat because this party is to fire!

200 firefighters can’t even put out the flames after your dancing and mind explode from the party? Wow. That’s amazing. I think I may have to go and check this one out! I just want to kind of see dancing exploding all over the place, I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed that before. Just have to be careful because no can will be able to put out those flames, maybe if you called 300 firefighters?